Activities

Activities

Beginning in 2016, the First Responder Center plans to commence the activities described below in furtherance of its educational and charitable mission:

Supporting research regarding health intervention and disease prevention for first responders;

Promoting and enhancing technological solutions to improve the health, wellness, and operational safety of first responders;

Developing a web-based toolbox that will assist the First Responder Community in addressing growing concerns about increased diagnosis of cancers within first responder fields of service;

Developing and promoting behavioral health intervention programs that provide first responders with resources and support to manage issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder and suicidal tendencies;

Creating and maintaining an online library made available to the public without any charge and containing primary and secondary research publications relating to first responder health intervention and disease prevention; and

Providing grants and otherwise working with other charitable, educational, and governmental organizations pursuing the same or similar goals as the First Responder Center and the charitable and educational goals of its supported organization, the NFFF.

Health Intervention and Disease Prevention Program Development

The First Responder Center plans to develop and operate health intervention and disease prevention programs for first responders and their loved ones. For example, the Center will administer programs that promote behaviors that reduce occupational cancers for first responders. The Center plans to introduce a new behavioral health model called Stress First Aid to first responders around the country in order to help them cope with the psychological and emotional stresses common among first responders. Stress First Aid is one of the first programs to truly emphasize the importance of resources like cognitive behavioral therapy in helping to reduce mental health issues prevalent in the first responder community, like depression, addiction, and post-traumatic stress disorder. This program may also be expanded to include additional subject matters and resources as needed.

The Center will also be involved in developing and distributing educational materials about occupational cancers for first responders. In support of the Fire Service Occupational Cancer Alliance, the Center plans to convene organizations to discuss how best to help first responders more broadly understand and reduce their exposure to cancer risks and to issue reports regarding their findings. Such reports may be developed by the Center into additional health education programs for first responders addressing occupational cancer risks, steps to reduce them, and providing resources for first responders and their families when dealing with a cancer diagnosis.

Delivery of Training Programs

The First Responder Center plans to establish several mechanisms for delivering training programs to the first responder community through both direct training and web-based applications. The Center will develop a variety of program materials in house and with the NFFF that it will make available to the first responder community. These programs may be evaluated for the potential of providing continuing educational credits to first responder members who take such training and are required to meet specific recertification requirements for their line of work.

For example, the Center will develop the training materials for Stress First Aid and will deliver those materials via its website. It plans to use in-person training sessions as well to educate local first responders in communities throughout America about the program and its materials. The Center ultimately hopes that first responders can be trained to be peer educators through the Stress First Aid program, so that first responders themselves can help deliver these important educational materials to their own co-workers and peers in their communities and create safe places for discussion of the emotional and mental stresses that first responders face.

Research Grants and Funding for Health Intervention and Disease Prevention

The First Responder Center plans to provide research funding to a variety of organizations in furtherance of its charitable and educational mission. The Center will provide research grants to organizations, educational institutions, medical facilities, and other interested entities that conduct and publish studies on first responder physical, emotional, and psychological health-related issues. Examples of such grants may include: research to evaluate the effectiveness of diesel engine exhaust systems that have additives to reduce emissions; the effect that scrubbed gasses have on the human body in general; and the causes and effects of prolonged exposure to the by-products of combustion during the overhaul phase of emergency operations.

Online Library and Other Web Resources

The First Responder Center also plans to build an interactive and extensive online library to share all of the resources it will collect on first responder health issues and disease prevention. The library will include toolkits on ways to prevent occupational cancers through steps to reduce exposure to carcinogens at accident scenes, the Stress First Aid materials discussed above, as well as new and older research, reports, and white papers that are related to first responder health issues. The Center intends for the online library to be a resource that all first responders and their families can use to learn about specific diseases, prevention methods, self-care, and the latest research on illnesses that predominantly affect their communities. The online library will be available to the public as well, at no cost, to further disseminate knowledge and understanding of the health and disease issues that first responders face.

Collaborating with Organizations Pursuing the Same or Similar Goals

The First Responder Center plans to identify and collaborate with charitable, educational, and governmental organizations pursuing the same or similar goals as the Center in order to maximize the resources available to carry out the Center’s mission. Such potential collaborators include groups, associations, and organizations that have specific interests in the first responder community such as National Police Research Platform, the United States Department of Justice, National Center for the Prevention of Violence Against the Police, Center for Officer Safety and Wellness, and EMS Safety Foundation.

2017 First Responder Center for Excellence for Reducing Occupational Illness, Injuries and Deaths, Inc. The First Responder Center for Excellence is an affiliate organization of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.